Christmas Eve & Day!

We had a fantastic Christmas this year!
The only things missing were:
Mom, pat, 4 siblings, 3 in-laws, and 8 cousins:(
Paul and Missy had Ryan and Ruth Ann.
Mom and Pat got Spencer and Brittany.
I'm thankful we had Sarah, Andrew, and Josh man.
Without them the 4 of us would have been very lonely!

Since most of the family were hundreds and hundreds of
miles away we decided to have our
Christmas program early at the house then
head out to Mimi's cafe and downtown
on TRAX to see the lights at temple square.

We all FROZE, so the lights were a quick 5 minutes then
back home for bed so Santa could come!

When we arrived home Santa's elves
rang our doorbell and brought us
Christmas Pj's
VERY EXCITING!

Rylee helped me bake cookies for Santa

Christmas morning was started very early!!!!!
Rylee opened her Zhu Zhu.
She was thrilled!
Santa could have only
brought that and she would have been
a very happy little girl!

The Fancy Nancy tutu and feather boa
were a big hit as expected!

Rylee was one spoiled gal.
This Christmas was so exciting for us all to watch.
She seemed to finally understand how it all works.
Grandpa and Granny had a great time watching the
magic and thrill in her eyes;)

After we packed up some toys and clothes we
drove down to St. George for a Christmas
Dinner prepared my Grandma Great!
Aunt Julie was there so it made it a great night
filled with family!

Since Rylee usually wakes up around 9:00am and
Christmas morning started at 6:30am
Rylee was pretty tired on our drive.
Excitement and and over stimulated
had set in and this diva was wired!
Grandpa told Rylee that if she would close
her eyes and sleep that he would throw her on the bean bag when
we got to St. George. 30 seconds later Rylee was out and
slept the whole drive!
We hope you all had a great Holiday Season!

Snow Fun

Rylee asked if we could go build a snowman
today...

She even donated her hat and scarf
for her new frosty friend;)

Tic-Tac Trauma

Doctor: "Merry Christmas Eve"

Rylee: "Merry Christmas to u too"

Doctor: "Whats goin on mom"?

Mom: "Well, Rylee shoved a Tic-Tac up her nose.
I'm not sure if she shoved it so far
up that I can no longer see it or if it's sitting somewhere
in the back seat of my car".

Doctor: (trying not to bust a giant smile followed by a chuckle)
"Lets have a look"

Yes
Rylee is fine and we can now all laugh about this.
It was no laughing matter at 2:30pm today
while driving to the Doctor office.

Rylee now knows not to shove ANYTHING up her nose;)

**Merry Christmas Eve**

Rylee's School Christmas Program!

Cutest program I think I have ever seen.
In fact
YES
cutest program
EVER!
Rylee did a great job today!
Sang every song she could remember;)

*GOOD JOB MY DARLING DIVA*

Gingerbread Party!

The party was a huge success!

Rylee patiently started waiting for her
friends arrival at 4:00...
the party didn't start till 6:00.

making red frosting for our cupcakes;)

Rylee and her bff Aspen

Rylee, Aspen, Grason, and Hailey

Working on the gingerbread house!

The whole gang

Rylee and her finished house

I think back on my memories of the Holidays
when I was little. One of the only traditions that
I can remember is gingerbread house parties.
The houses looked exactly like the ones do here.
My mom has made these houses for years
and passed the knack onto me;)
Since I am the youngest of 5 our parties consisted
of siblings and occasional cousins.
Rylee, being an only child, gets a party of friend and of course Josh man!
I now have a MUCH greater appreciation for
my mom after throwing this party!
Craziness and chaos!
I hope Rylee can remember and pass on this tradition
when she is older!

3 years and 8 months

This sight is bitter sweet

Rylee seems to be old enough to pour her own
milk AND put her own strawberry flavoring
in as well...

What else does she need me for??
She seems to be growing up so fast!
She has been getting to be even more fun lately.
Such a little lady.
SO incredibly sweet.
Head over heels for her Grandpa Walker.
She is in love with the holiday season
which makes Christmas time especially fun this year!

I'm the luckiest mom in the world!

A word from the not so wise

Just because the bundle of Christmas party invites
comes in a package of 8
DOES NOT
mean you need to use all 8 of them!

I am throwing a little Holiday party this weekend for
Rylee and her friends.
These are the lovely, time consuming,
amazing smelling houses that are soon
to be taken over by 3 year olds!
~Wish me luck~

***Polar Express***

We went up to Heber last night to ride on the
POLAR EXPRESS
It was a blast!
We have been preparing for the past couple of days for this event.
We bought the book to read and borrowed the
movie from Iya(sarah) to watch!
Ry was glued to the tv.
The scary man on top of the train scared Ry but
that didn't make her not want to finish!
Jess, Dallas, Aspen, and Irelynn were our dates!

This was an event we will always remember!

Rylee and Aspen were into every single
detail of the night!

Irelynn, Jessica, and Dallas

fogging up the train window
admiring the pretty lights

Momma and Rylee

!!!!!SANTA!!!!!

This trip was exactly like the book!
We had cookies and hot chocolate,
Read the polar express book,
Rode past Santa standing at the North Pole,
Elves came with there note pad and asked
each and every child what they would like for Christmas,
Santa and Mrs. Clause came onto the train and gave
the kids a bell and a cookie recipe,
Sang Christmas carols,
and danced... well just Aspen and Rylee;)

An Elf came and shook Rylees bell.
She told Rylee that her bell came off
Rudolph's collar...
Now exciting because that happens to be Rylees
FAVORITE REINDEER!

Ry and Mrs. Clause

The conductor came and collected our tickets.
He punched a star hole through them...
(Just like in the movie)

We all had a very magical evening!
The girls were darling to watch.
Christmas and Santa are so exciting...

... and apparently very exhausting!

~MERRY CHRISTMAS~

~HO~HO~HO~

We went to the Festival of Trees tonight.
Andrew, Sarah, and Josh met us there.
Ry has been talking about getting to see Santa ALL day.
She jumped up on his lap like a pro!
(much different than past years)
Rylee told Santa that this year she would like...
A baby
A magic wand,
magic clothes...?
A doggy that doesn't really bark,
and an iron and ironing board.

I'm going to assume that the reason Rylee
was SO comfortable seeing Santa this year
is because it FINALLY clicked that this
JoLLy~ReD~SwEEt~FluFFy~MaN
brings her PRESENTS!